Much of the media is focused on the impending release of Special Counsel's Robert Mueller's report, but another investigation is also due to issue its findings soon, which may potentially be much more revealing - and damning.

Despite receiving little news coverage, on 28 March 2018 US Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz launched a probe into the FBI's efforts to surveil low-level former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, based partially on information provided by Christopher Steele.

The former MI6 operative worked with the Bureau as a confidential informant 2010 — 2016 — Horowitz is seeking to ascertain if Steele was a credible source, and whether the FBI abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by relying on Steele's now utterly-discredited 'Trump-Russia' dossier to obtain surveillance warrants against Page, who'd already left the campaign team when the FBI applied for the warrants under FISA.

The investigation could conclude as early as May — and a former US official interviewed by Horowitz told Politico the Inspector General's final report could well "deeply undermine" Steele — the same article, published 17th April, also stated the probe would "cast doubt on the veracity of the information Steele provided about Page the FBI included in its application for a FISA warrant".

However, Steele himself has refused to be interviewed by Horowitz on the basis it would be improper for him to take part "in an internal Justice Department investigation as a foreign national and former British intelligence agent", and will instead make a public statement. Critics of Steele may find his justification bitterly ironic, as his status as "a foreign national and former British intelligence agent" didn't prevent him from providing information to the FBI — or Justice Department official Bruce Ohr — in the first place.

Steele has also previously declined to meet the Senate Intelligence Committee — although is reported to have met with Mueller's investigators in the summer of 2017.

Half-Baked

Page became a person of interest after he appeared in a series of memos Steele produced for Fusion GPS, a research firm investigating the Trump campaign on behalf of the Democratic National Committee — the memos would in sum become his notorious dossier.

Steele's allegations not only led to FBI surveillance of Page, but also investigations by the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Director of National Intelligence, and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — even though it's never been alleged he committed any wrongdoing.

Horowitz is also investigating Steele's other work as a confidential FBI informant, and already concluded Steele significantly over-hyped the significance and scale of his role in an investigation into the infamous 2010 FIFA bribery scandal.

Steele claimed to have delivered information to the bureau's Eurasian Organized Crime squad about corruption within the international soccer league, which led to the ouster of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and indictment of several league officials. However, Horowitz has concluded Steele merely introduced FBI agents to a journalist who'd obtained hacked documents — and the FBI formalising their relationship with Steele on the basis of this somewhat negligible contribution may represent an error of judgement on the FBI's part.

Moreover, it's been revealed the FBI itself was still uncertain of Steele's reliability in November 2016, despite the Bureau's 21st October 2016 FISA application stating "the FBI assesses Source #1 [Steele] to be reliable".

Horowitz is also scrutinizing Steele's links to Ohr, the Justice Department official. Ohr and Steele met in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2016. Ohr became Steele's handler shortly after the 2016 election. The FBI had cut ties with Steele after finding out he had unauthorized contacts with the media.

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